Privacy Policy

Who is responsible for the data

The service is operated by Or Haklay, Israel, who is responsible for the data. You can get in touch at masters.splitter@gmail.com.

This policy covers use of the master-splitter.com website and the Master Splitter app, including installation as a PWA, use of the native Android app (built with Capacitor, distributed on Google Play, package id com.hayotush.mastersplitter.twa) and deep links into the app. The service's previous domain still runs for existing PWA installations, and the same policy applies there. Use of the service is also subject to the Terms of Use.

In short

• We do not sell personal information to third parties.
• We do not keep a full copy of the chat history of a WhatsApp group.
• Receipt photos are processed to extract details and are not stored by us after the analysis.
• The app currently has no product analytics tooling (such as Google Analytics).
• There is no automatic export of all personal information; you can export group expenses to CSV from the app, and contact us for anything else.

What information is collected

Account details

Name, email address, phone number, a protected hash of your password (if you registered with one), and a Google identifier if you chose to sign in with or link a Google account. You can also store a separate phone number for Bit payment requests.

Group and financial information

Group names, membership, admin role, currency, expenses (amount, category, payer, split, status, and foreign-currency fields where relevant), debt settlements, recurring expenses, shopping lists, tasks and group archiving. This is a record that users enter — not banking data and not access to a bank account.

Information from the WhatsApp connection

The identifier of the connected group, technical session data needed to keep the connection alive, a sender identifier linked to an app user, and the identifier and text of a message picked up as an expense. Messages that do not look like an expense are not stored by us as chat history.

Information processed by artificial intelligence

The text of a message that looks like an expense, and a receipt photo (from the app or from WhatsApp) that may be sent to an AI provider to extract an amount, description and category. The image is processed in memory and is not stored in the Master Splitter database after the analysis.

Push notifications

If you allowed notifications in the browser, a Web Push subscription is stored (endpoint address and keys). If you allowed notifications in the Android app, a Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) registration token is stored instead — one per installation — and is used to deliver the notification to the device. In both cases your per-type notification preferences are stored as well. A token that is no longer valid is removed from the account.

Device permissions in the app

The Android app asks for a notifications permission, and for camera or photo access only if you chose to take or attach a receipt. The image is sent for analysis and is not stored by us afterwards. You can revoke any permission in the operating system settings; revoking one only affects the feature that depends on it.

Daily games

Game identifier, day, solving time, a private personal streak, your choice whether to appear on a leaderboard, challenges between users, and interface tour markers.

Storage on your device

The app uses localStorage to keep sign-in tokens, the active group identifier and the theme preference. Account authentication is not based on the app's cookies. Third-party services (Google sign-in, for example) may use their own mechanisms.

Technical information

IP address, browser and device type, request times, error events and security data may appear in the logs of the server and of the storage infrastructure.

Why the information is processed

• Creating an account, authentication, password reset and securing access.
• Managing groups, expenses, balances, shopping and tasks.
• Connecting WhatsApp and detecting expenses in the connected group.
• Sending the notifications you chose to receive.
• Running the daily games, leaderboards and challenges.
• Building a convenience link for a Bit payment request through WhatsApp (using a number you provided).
• Troubleshooting, preventing abuse and improving the reliability of the service.
• Answering enquiries and meeting legal obligations.

Legal basis for processing

In line with Israeli law and the nature of the service, we process information on bases including:

• Performing our agreement with you and providing the service you asked for.
• Consent — for example signing in with Google, or allowing notifications in the browser or on the device.
• A legitimate interest in operating, securing, preventing fraud and improving the service, where there is no unreasonable harm to privacy.
• A legal obligation, where one applies.

WhatsApp and artificial intelligence

Once a group is connected, the service examines new messages in that group. Messages that look like an expense (including receipt photos) may be sent for analysis to an AI provider (OpenAI) in order to extract an amount, description and category. The result may be wrong — check every entry before relying on it.

Whoever connects a WhatsApp group is responsible for informing the group members about the bot and about the processing of expense messages, and for referring them to this policy. Do not send medical information, full credit card details, passwords, identity documents or other sensitive information that is not needed to record an expense.

Notifications, games and the PWA

Notifications may include, among others: a new expense, a settlement request and the reply to it, a completed shopping list, a member joining a group, a monthly summary, a debt reminder, an invitation to the daily game and a game challenge. You can change or turn off types in settings, and revoke the notification permission in the operating system or the browser. In the Android app notifications are delivered through Firebase Cloud Messaging; in a browser, through that browser's Web Push infrastructure.

Games store solving data and times. The personal streak is private. You can opt out of appearing on the leaderboard in the relevant settings. Installing the PWA or the Android app may cache the app shell on the device; the same privacy policy applies there too.

Sharing with providers, transfers and group members

Information may be processed through these providers, as needed:

• OpenAI — analysing text and receipt photos to extract expense details. The information may be processed outside Israel in line with the provider's policy and infrastructure.
• Google / Firebase — identity authentication (if you chose it), sending password reset email, and delivering notifications to the Android app through Firebase Cloud Messaging.
• WhatsApp / Meta — passing messages through the account and group you connected (via a linked-device connection).
• AWS S3 — encrypted backups in the eu-central-1 region (Frankfurt).
• Web Push providers — delivering notifications through browser and device infrastructure.
• Frankfurter — exchange rates; we do not send it any identifying user details.
• Uptime monitoring providers — server health checks (not user behaviour analytics).
• Server and database infrastructure — storing and running the service.

Expense, shopping, task and balance details are shown to the members of the relevant group. Information will be handed to a competent authority where there is a legal obligation, or where it is needed to protect the service and its users.

Retention and deletion

Account and group information is kept for as long as it is needed to run the service or as required by law. You can delete your account from settings: identifying details are removed or anonymised, though a technical identifier may remain so that the expense history of other group members stays intact. Deletion is blocked while open balances with groups remain. WhatsApp connection data is deleted when the connection is disconnected, except for information needed for security or a legal obligation.

Copies in backups may remain for a limited time after deletion from the live database. Shopping items marked as bought may be deleted automatically after a short period. There is currently no automatic export interface for all personal information; you can ask for help at the email address below.

Information security

We take accepted measures including password hashing, access and refresh tokens, rate limiting, permissions based on group membership, and encrypted communication in the production environment. No system is completely immune — use a unique password and disconnect a WhatsApp connection you are not using.

Your rights

Subject to applicable law, you can among other things:

• Review your information and correct account details from within the app.
• Delete your account from settings (subject to closing open balances).
• Disconnect the WhatsApp group.
• Change notification preferences and opt out of appearing on the games leaderboard.
• Export a group's expenses to a CSV file from the expenses screen (this does not include all personal information).
• Contact us with a request concerning your personal information.

Requests that could harm the rights of other group members or shared records will be examined in line with the law and with the need to keep the group record intact.

Minors

The service is intended for users with the legal capacity to enter into an agreement. Where the law requires the consent of a parent or guardian, obtain it before using the service. The service is not knowingly aimed at young children, and we do not knowingly collect information from them for marketing.

Changes and contact

This policy may be updated as the service or the law changes. A material change will be published on this page with a new update date. Continued use after an update is published constitutes acceptance of the updated version, subject to law.

For privacy enquiries: masters.splitter@gmail.com.